Surely McCain would never describe it as “embarrassing” that the U.S. can’t intervene to end the serious violations of human rights in China, to say nothing of dozens of other problems that the U.S. can’t do much about. What is embarrassing is our unwillingness to correct course on matters that should be perfectly within our control.

Syria continues its long, slow descent into hell, with violence and tragedy showing no let up. By now, one year into this horror, it has become clear that neither side can win an easy victory, reaffirming the adage that there can be "no victor and no vanquished.”

"Syria is a puppet state of Iran. They are a threat not just to Israel, but they have been a complete destabilizing force within Lebanon, which is another problem for Israel and Hezbollah. They are a country that we can do no worse than the leadership in Syria today, which is not the case, and some of the other countries that we readily got ourselves involved in.So it's sort of remarkable to me we would have -- here again, it's the timidness of this president in dealing with the Iranian threat, because Syria and Iran is an axis. And the...

Ground Zero has occupied the attention of Americans for over a decade. But a little known fact about the site, which is now being brought to the attention of Americans everywhere, is that it was once home to one of the first Arab American neighborhoods in the U.S. From the 1870s to the 1940s, the Lower West Side in Lower Manhattan on Washington Street was once an Arab American community known as “Little Syria”, “The Mother Colony”, “Bowling Green Village”, or “The Syrian Quarter.” It ran from Battery Park through the current location of the 9/11 Memorial...

Several months back, when the Arab League suspended Libya's membership and passed a resolution supporting a "no-fly zone" over the country; it appeared to be a one-off affair. Muammar Qadhafi had worked hard, for decades, to make himself a regional pariah. His bizarre behavior, his reign of terror, and his absurd policy pronouncements had long outraged and embarrassed many across the Arab World.

This morning, AAI released a new poll on Arab attitudes towards Syria, comprised of data from six Arab nations and over four thousand respondents. AAI President Jim Zogby began the release by recalling a 2008 poll AAI had conducted in the Arab world for the BBC. The data from this 2008 poll reveals that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was among the most highly respected and widely supported leaders in the Arab World. Now, a mere three years later, new AAI polling data shows Bashar to be virtually isolated in the Arab world.

What emerges is stark relief from the results of this poll is the degree to which the Syrian government of Bashar Al Assad has become isolated and is looked on with near universal disfavor across the entire Arab world. Just three years ago, we polled in 11 Arab countries asking respondents to name a leader they most respected. In five of these countries, Bashar Al Assad ranked among the top three mentioned - the only Arab leader to be mentioned in more than two states. As the results presented below make clear today, support for Al Assad has virtually dried up.

In July of 2002 I was in Damascus, Syria, having been invited by the U.S. Embassy to deliver an address at the University. I was delighted that the auditorium was full, but a touch nervous since I had chosen to speak on the challenges facing the country.